The Good Girl
by FallenFromParadise
Summary: Sari didn't know why everyone was so hard on her, she tried hard every day to stay out of trouble. Was it her fault she didn't want to fall into line? Just because she did a few bad things didn't really make her bad, did it? -Mature Themes-
1. Chapter 1

The Good Girl

_Summery_: Sari didn't know why everyone was so hard on her, she tried hard every day to stay out of trouble. Was it her fault she didn't want to fall into line? Just because she did a few bad things that didn't really make her bad, did it?

Dude, _How Bad can I Be_ is so good that I can't write while listening to it because I'm jamming to hard... It's amazing! "How ba-a-a-ad can I be? I'm just doing what comes naturally!" is the greatest lyric ever.

_**Warning**_: This chapter has a LOT of profanity in it because the main character and her friends have unbelievable potty mouths and are dropping F-bombs like it's hotter than hot, hot, hot! This fiction contains mature themes and this writer doesn't publicly condone any of action that can be considered illegal in any way, shape, or form (_especially_ around any figure of authority).

_This Counts as a Disclaimer_: I hope this fiction doesn't make Dr. Suss spin in his grave... But it probably will. v.v I'm sorry, Dr. Suss, I don't mean to dirty up the pure children's story we all know and love so well... But I've caught a serious case of Once-ler Fandom and am thus unable to help myself.

* * *

The ringing of the alarm jerked Sari Meadows awake from a sound sleep and, as she struggled to turn the hellish blaring noise off, she knew it was going to be a bad day. Her head pounded and she groggily reached around the side of her bed and grabbed her purse, lugging the heavy thing into her lap and searching for the pain reliever she'd stored in the lining only the night before. She could smell the heavy sent of pancakes and sighed, her fingers finding the small baggie she was looking for and pulling it out to see only the left over shake that she and her friends had failed to finish off the night before.

Scratch bad, it was bordering on terrible already.

With a sigh, she shook her head and pulled her small pipe out from her bedside drawer and made quick work of loading the bowl with the remaining broken brownish green leaves before lighting up and taking a large puff. She could hear the sharp voices below and knew that her mother had found something to be upset with again, not surprising. Pulling out the stiff toilet paper roll filled with laundry sheets she blew into it and took another hit from the pipe before snuffing it and poking it back under her bed for later use.

Breathing out into the tube again she slipped it back into her bag and slid out of bed, her headache already fading away to the background before she'd even reached her closet. By the time she'd slipped into a simple white t-shirt and pair of faded blue jeans with the holes worn into both knees she already felt the pleasant fog settle around her and sighed in relief. More yelling alerted her that leaving her room and making a break for the front door was probably her best option if she wanted to leave the house with her high intact.

She'd only made it to the bottom of the stairs when her mother called her name sharply and she was forced to slowly turn to the tall angry brunette standing in the living room, a plate of pancakes in one hand and a cigarette in the other, "Where do you think you're going?"

Sari considered just running out the door and not looking back, but seeing as she'd eventually have to return she decided against the impulse, "The park." she answered simply. One worded answers were the best, didn't take too much to think up and couldn't be mistook as an indirect insult to the listener. Her mother curled her lip and stared, obviously waiting for an extended answer and Sari mentally cursed her luck as she struggled to come up with one.

"Your eyes are red, did you know that?" She turned and seen her father stretched out on the couch with a plate of pancakes on his stomach and beer can close at hand. "You might wanna put some sunglasses on-"

"Are you encouraging her?" Her mother nearly screamed causing Sari and the older man to jump at the sudden loud invasion of their eardrums, "All she does already is sit around smoking that stuff-"

"Leave her alone, Judy, she's a good kid." Her father defended and Sari mentally thanked the man for his defense, "If she wants to go to the park let her, kids should go to the park more instead of sitting home all day; it's good for 'em."

She watched her mother's face slowly turn red before she turned angry eyes to the younger woman and shaking her head, "Not even ten in the morning and you're already starting arguments with your attitude."

That was unfair. It was eleven, she knew because the clock on top of the television said so in bright light up red numbers, but she figured she'd apologize anyway to smooth things over, "Sorry, Mom, just had a headache this morning." she excused.

"Well I wish I could wake up and fry my brain first thing before coming downstairs and starting fights while _my_ mother made my breakfast!" Her mother snapped, turning around to slam the plate of pancakes onto the coffee table. "When I was your age I wouldn't dream of treating my mother that way-"

"Run while you can, kid, I'll hold her off." Her father joked from the couch, stumbling up and letting the plate on his stomach fall to the floor. Buttery syrup covered pancakes hit the floor and silence took over the entire house, even the television seemed to understand the severity of the mess for a well-timed commercial came on, '_Ever have one of those days where nothing goes right_?'.

"Great, just great, another mess just left to sit for your house slave to come wipe up!" Her mother started shrilly, her hands coming up over her head and her father motioned for her to leave before it got to bad. Sari gave a salute of understanding and sprinted for the door, "Just where the hell do you think your going?"

"Park, love you, bye!" Sari answered quickly, shutting the door loudly behind her and continuing to run down the street. She heard her mother jerk the door open and start screaming for the neighbors to hear but paid no attention to it and kept going, not stopping until she rounded the corner and made it another block before taking a break on the curb, breathing heavily with her heart pounding harshly against her chest.

After she was able to breath normally once more she stood back up and walked the rest of the way to the park leisurely, her thumbs hooked into her belt loops as her neon pink and yellow shoes soundlessly crossing the grass towards the gazebo where she usually met up with her friends before work. If she was lucky her friend Alex already had a joint rolled and waiting, if she wasn't she'd offer to de-seed since she had nothing to share other than her witty personality and fabulous self.

* * *

When she got to her precious gazebo what she seen inside wasn't her circle but, rather, a strange guy wearing a pink scarf and carrying an S5 Sweetie Pie black and white special edition Mellow Ride guitar. Her feet froze as she looked at the high quality guitar that had obviously seen better days despite the highly polished sheen. "Hey! Chee! Over here, you gotta check this shit out!"

Sari blinked away from the guitar and looked over to the back of a growing crowd that was forming around the pink scarved man before spotting a group of three young men waving frantically at her. She returned the wave and jogged over, "Do see that guitar?" she asked once she was close enough, pointing at it in shock, "Is that Sweetie Pie or did my mom's most recent freak out finally scramble my brain?"

"No shit, dude! I don't even think he knows it, look at that dopey looking face; he's just some country boy who got lucky." Day-day muttered, glaring at the grinning man strutting around in the gazebo and, apparently, setting up a show, "I bet he sucks worse than Vance Rizen."

"I like Vance Rizen, the way he plays behind his back like that blows my mind." Aaron claimed, smiling happily as he looked down at the joint he was finishing up, "You're just hating 'cuz your poor ass can't afford to pay attention to the music."

The two started arguing and she turned to the third, "Seriously, I've never even _seen_ one outside of a maggie before."

"You wouldn't, would you? There's only four of them in existence; two of which are in the Rock-of-Fame museum. Mellow himself kept one so that _has_ to be-"

Aaron snorted, "Sweetie Pie was buried with him, Flop." he cut in before his friend could finish and Sari nodded in agreement. "If that was his guitar then he would have had to _dig him up_ and pull it out of Sweetie Pie's cold, dead, fingers." He laughed at his own pun and everyone groaned at the poorly chosen joke before he held up a completed joint pinched between his thumb and index finger, "Now, if you don't mind my language, _smoke the fuck up_."

"You're the only person I know with his own catch phrase, Aaron." Sari told him seriously as she took the joint and inspected the craftsmanship before licking her thumb and smoothing it over a small gap in the middle and lighting it up, "Look, shut up! He's starting!" she elbowed Flop in the stomach on accident and he clutched his stomach over-dramatically and started groaning. "Shut. Up."

"Bitch." Flop muttered, snatching the joint from her and taking a long hit; she rolled her eyes and watched the man stroke out the first note. It was smooth and crisp, floating through the air and wrapping around the four shocked people in the back of the crowd, "Whoa, he might have dug up Sweetie Pie."

He started off strong, his fingers slipping across the strings in confident strokes, "Everybody needs a Thneed-" someone near the front shouted something and he paused for a moment, before trying again. But the notes sounded weaker, "Yeah, everybody needs a Thneed-" another shout interrupted she watched him curl his fingers nervously into his palms.

"He's choking." Day-day observed loudly, "Mello's Sweety Pie is in the hands of a choke artist." Sari, Aaron, and Flop all turned their glares on him and he shrugged, taking a large puff and saying through tight breath, "You gonna disagree?"

"You're such an asshole, Day-day." Sari snapped, jerking the joint from his fingers and taking a hit herself before shoving it at Flop once more, she couldn't really argue against him, though; even now the man was standing still before the now loudly heckling crowd and she bristled.

Day-day laughed, "I may be an asshole but at least I'm not a," he pointed his index finger up and Sari's eyes widened just as he finished in a loud yell, "Choke artist!"

Aaron, Flop, and Sari stared at him open-mouthed in horror as his call incited others to shout direct insults at the poor man whose face was slowly growing redder and redder by the moment. "You _prick_!" Sari snapped, "How could you actually do that? How could you stand there in front of _me_ and do that?"

"That was wrong, man, what's the matter with you?" Flop asked, shaking his head sadly and Sari nodded her agreement, "You know these people have that mob mentality." that was an understatement. The vicious pack of hounds hardly shared the combined individuality of maybe one _normal_ person anywhere else.

They continued shouting names at him and Sari couldn't take it, reaching into her shoulder bag and pulling out her wallet she counted out three bucks, "Quick, how much do you guys have?" Aaron dug in his pockets and pulled out some silver coins and Flop shook his head and raised his palms to show he didn't have anything. "HEY!" She shouted over the hecklers, turning around and waving her cash in the air. She had to repeat herself and jump to get the man's attention, nearly flinching at the puppy gray-blue eyes that caught hers, "How much?!"

The question seemed to shock him and he blinked at her in confusion, "How much?" she shouted again, pushing through the crowed as rudely as she could. She could tell by the annoyed grunts that Flop and Aaron had decided to join her, and as the three neared the gazebo she cleared her throat and offered the man what couldn't have been more than four dollars, "Here, I want one."

"You want to buy a Thneed?" He sounded so hopeful that it nearly broke her heart and she doubted her voice wouldn't tremble so she just gave a firm nod of affirmation. She was sure it wasn't his fault he looked so shocked, after all he had just been the one and only target to the criticisms of about thirty odd people. He cleared his throat and nodded, tugging at his collar, "Do you know what it is?"

"It's a Thneed, isn't it? I want one, hand it over." She could feel the confused glares of the hecklers on the back of her head and swallowed, not enjoying her spotlight moment in the slightest. It was making her anxious and killing what little of a buzz she'd been working on, "Can you hurry up, please?" the question snapped him to reality and he nodded quickly, taking the money from her hand and pressing a light blue Thneed into her now broke as a joke palm.

She closed her fist around it and nodded a quick thanks before looking down at his guitar and gesturing to it, "Take care of that." turning back around she seen Aaron and Flop standing at the bottom of the stairs glaring out at the crowed and flipped her hair over her shoulder, slipping between them and through the crowed.

When her feet hit the side walk across the street of the park her shoulders sagged in relief and she stopped to inspect her new purchase. It was long, fluffy, and smelled like she could eat ten of them, "What's this thing supposed to do, anyhow?"

She heard Aaron snort behind her, "Well it's a Thneed, so I suppose it does whatever it is a Thneed is supposed to do." he took the furry looking thing and held it up by two of it's four strap things, "Why do you suppose there's a hole in the middle?"

"Maybe it's a toilet rug?" Flop asked, joining them and Sari shrugged, "It kinda looks like a toilet rug, you think maybe it's scented like that to mask _other odors_ that comes from the toilet." he gasped in amazement, "That's fucking _awesome_."

"How's a toilet rug awesome?" Aaron asked, shaking his head, "It looks like a fashion belt to me, probably the newest rage in Whoville, you know the weirdness that goes on over there." he sniffed it and gave it a lick before jerking it from his face, "Ugh, tastes like grass."

"Idiot, just because it smells good doesn't mean you can eat it." Sari laughed, pulling it from his hands and inspecting it herself before remembering the fluffy scarf around the mans neck and laughed, "Wait, no, you're both wrong. It's a scarf." She wrapped it around her neck and pulled her hair free, "See? Perfect fit, how do I look?"

"Like an idiot wearing a Thneed." She looked over to see Day-day join them and flipped him off, "Don't be mad at me, I was just having a bit of fun."

"Yeah, just like Sammy and them, huh?" Sari snapped back before smiling stupidly and mocking in her most scathing voice, "Let's all poke fun at the weird people! They don't look or act like us so it's okay, right?"

"That's not what I meant-"

Aaron coughed, "Let's just drop this, we've been friends for to long to let something stupid like this get in the middle of it."

Sari rolled her eyes, but did as he suggested, "Who had the joint last? Day-day's playtime ruined my buzz and I've got to get to work in," she looked down at her watch and rolled her eyes, "less than twenty minutes."

Day-day gave a sarcastic laugh before producing the remaining half of the joint, "You're _lucky_ I waited."

* * *

The strange girl with the red tinged eyes had left before he could thank her for the purchase, and as she disappeared into the crowed with her two large bodyguards or whatever they were several others stepped up to hold money out to him as well. He took the money and gave out what Thneeds he had, handing them to the now interested consumers who had not more than two minutes before had shouted out insults he'd never even _heard_ before.

Soon the crowd had dispersed and gave him a clear view of his very first customer trying to hide herself in an ally with her bodyguards and the jerk that had started his misery as they passed a cigarette between them before she gave the others a wave and started walking towards an ice cream shop. When she stepped inside he hesitated and looked at the bored looking mule wearing an advertisement sign over it's back, "Want an ice cream, Mel?"

The donkey stared at him and flicked his tail and Once-ler skipped down the steps and gave him a quick pat on his head, "Okay then, buddy, you wait here and I'll go get you a strawberry." he spun around on his heel and stuffed his hands in his pockets, his long legs getting him across the street and into the small shop with enough time to spot the girl slip a long orange apron over her head.

She wrapped the apron strings twice around her middle before giving it a quick tie in the back as she walked up to the counter and he put a large smile on his face, "Welcome to Mr. Swirlie, we give you more in whirl in your swirl, how can I help you?" she must have remembered him because her wide business smile was quickly morphed into an amused smirk, "Ah, Thneed-Man, finished selling already?"

He shrugged, "I didn't have that many to sell today." he confessed and she leaned onto the counter with a nod. Her eyes were a clean white now, however slightly watery and he wondered if she was about to cry for some reason. She didn't look upset, though, in fact she looked the exact opposite, "Do you like your Thneed?"

"Love it, best Thneed I'll ever own." she flicked at one of the straps and it bounced up and over her shoulder, "Kinda strange, smells good, not edible. Two out of three ain't bad." she laughed at her own joke and Once-ler grinned, not completely understanding why it should be edible aside from the delicious scent it gave off; but who knows, maybe it was. He'd check on that later. "So what can I get for you?"

"A strawberry cone." He answered promptly, feeling maybe just a little too pleased with himself as she nodded unsuspectingly and turned to make the cone. "I'd also like to thank you for helping me out back there, I really appreciate it."

She shrugged, "Don't think too much about it, all I did was buy a Thneed." she answered him, turning back around with a large ice cream before grinning, "Here, I'll give you a discount on that as a reward for letting me see that beauty strapped to your back up close." she offered, punching a few buttons before looking up and holding her hand out, "That'll be thirty-five cents for a children's cone."

Once-ler put a dollar in her hand and she counted out the change, putting the coins into his waiting palm and holding out the ice cream for him to take. He did so, but stayed at the counter, "You play?" he asked conversationally, not really understanding why she'd call his guitar a beauty but still feeling a bit of pride over it. It was the one thing his father had actually left to him by name when he died and as soon as he could do it he planned on fixing it up.

"Just started a few months ago, but the one I play on isn't electric. I'm saving up for one, though, half way there." She gave a fist pump and Once-ler laughed, nodding his head in understanding before silence settled over. Before it could become awkward he wished her luck and left the shop, dropping his change into his pocket as he crossed the street.

As he neared the donkey he chanced a look behind his shoulder and seen that she had already diverted her attention to anther customer and grinned. She was cute, with softly curling light brown hair that went down her back and ended just above her elbows and large gold speckled green eyes; didn't seem all that brilliant, but was obviously witty enough to make up for it. More importantly, she was the only friendly face to even look at him since he'd found the Truffula trees aside from the adorable faces of the forest animals that he'd had to bribe with marshmallows and pancakes.

He gave Melvin his strawberry cone and once he finished with it gave a large smirk and grabbed the mule's reigns, strutting back proudly to his camp. It took nearly half an hour of walking, but when he got there he was able to cockily look down at the unamused little Lorax and fan himself with bill's he'd gotten from customers that had bought his Thneed. "I take it you sold a couple."

He gave a disinterested laugh, shrugging slightly, "Try _eight_." he bragged, leaning on the annoyed looking mule he tauntingly counted out the money in his hand dollar by dollar before fanning it in front of the guardian's face, "That's thirty-two dollars, Mustache, what do you think about that?"

"Congratulations, Beanpole, you found eight suckers to give you money for a useless product; you should be real proud of yourself." The Lorax replied caustically, sorting the cards in his hand in a thoughtful manner, as though the conversation was below his standards.

Once-ler frowned, "Just so you know it's the _exact_ opposite of useless, you can do so much with it that it makes nearly _everything else_ useless." The Lorax waved a careless hand at him and he fumed, "You're only upset that I might hurt your precious trees, well I'm a man of my word, Lorax!" He jabbed a finger in the air, "I won't harm a single tree in the making of any of my Thneeds, and when you're satisfied that I'm keeping my end of the bargain, you to leave."

Spinning around he stormed over to Melvin's feed bag and slipped it over his head before taking off the saddle bags and home-made sign, throwing them over his shoulder to bring inside and drop beside he door. "Don't misunderstand me, Beanpole, if you're successful with your frivolous creation then that's all well and good; just not at the cost of my trees." He spun around to see the fuzzy annoyance sitting at the table with his arms folded before him, "You have to keep the important things in perspective."

Once-ler rolled his eyes and walked over to his bed, tossing his fedora onto mattress as he picked up his phone, "I always keep the important things in perspective, Lorax, soon you'll see that for yourself." pressing speed dial he rang his mother up and told her the good news. She seemed nearly as excited over his sales as the Lorax had, but he knew once he sold more she'd be proud, "Just wait, Mom, in another week or two my Thneed will be the most popular product in town."

* * *

"Just wait, Mom," Sari tried saying soothingly, holding her hands out peacefully at the angrily gaping woman in front of her, "I get paid next week, if I got paid this week I'd just _give_ you the money-"

"Then how did you get one if you don't have _any_ money?" Her mother demanded, pointing at the blue Thneed around Sari's neck forcefully and the younger woman hissed out an annoyed breath. Apparently her mother's friend had been at the gazebo and had purchased one of the Thneeds shortly after she'd made her stand and was raving about the many uses, who would have known it had a thousand uses?

She took it off her neck and held it out, "Here, you can have this one if you want it; but I really and truly don't have any money-"

The Thneed was jerked out of her hands and thrown behind her mother's shoulder and Sari had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming out of frustration, "I don't want _yours._ I want my own, do you believe for a second that Laura wouldn't be able to see that you'd just given me yours? Do you know how that would look?"

Probably like she'd thrown a fit to get what she wanted.

"Laura's children buy her gifts all the time, just last week Veera bought her a new Whatzit that peels a hundred potato's in _three minutes_, and just a few days before that Ceera bought her that new oven with eight burners, _eight_!"

"Veera and Ceera are lawyers, Mom. I serve ice cream." Sari explained tiredly, walking around the raging woman to pick up her Thneed from the floor, "Just tell Laura that I bought it for you as a gift, she didn't see me wearing it so it won't be an issue." she held the Thneed out again and gave the woman a large smile, "Really, I want you to have it anyways."

It took a moment for her mother to consider her words before giving the younger girl a large smile and accepting the Thneed happily, "Oh, well if you insist, dear! You're such a good daughter." a kiss on the cheek and a pat on the head accompanied the compliment before she ran out the door to show her friend what she'd gotten.

That matter handled Sari walked into the kitchen and looked to see if there was anything in the fridge to munch on before decided on a large glass of soda. Taking it up stairs she went into her room and set the glass on her table before across her bed and digging out her pipe. She'd just taken a large hit when her phone started ringing and she picked it up off her night stand, "Hello, who is it?" she asked, blowing out a steady stream of smoke over her head.

Her father answered and she sighed, "Hey, Dad, sorry but Mom just went over to Laura's... Yes, I'm aware that she wants a Thneed... Nah, he wasn't there when I got off work but I gave her mine so everything's cool." she took another hit as she listened to her father explain that he wouldn't be able to make it home that night and she rolled her eyes. Lucky bastard was probably going over to Flop's father's house to drink all night, "Want me to tell Mom or are you wanting to keep this a surprise?" she nodded, "Yeah, so I'll just go to bed early tonight.. -no I'm telling you not to worry about it, you let me ditch you this morning. It's not even a big deal."

She looked down into her pipe and frowned, she had one hit left and an entire nights worth of bitching to look forward to. "Just be back before eight, I'm opening tomorrow and can't be late for that... Yep, love you too, bye." hanging up the phone she took the last rip and decided on scraping if she got desperate even if it _was_ three days early when her phone rang again. She let it ring, though, after seeing Day-day's number come up on the caller ID and stuffed the pipe back between the mattress and box springs.

Settling back onto her bed she reached for her remote and switched her television on, flipping through channels until she got to her favorite music video network. Thinking back to the start of her shift she kind of regretted not getting the country boy's number, though he did look a bit straight-laced he hadn't seemed that bad; and if she'd made good enough friends with him maybe he might have let her play his guitar. She itched to try it out, to strum the strings at least once.

Sighing she watched a group of women stamp onto a disco dance floor wearing sexy little cheetah costumes and snorted, not knowing exactly what it had to do with the romantic lyrics aside from 'like a kitten meows', and that was strictly on a species only basis. What was so wrong with a simple love song that they had to sex it up to the point that it was just another booty call ring tone downloaded on a thirteen-year-old's cellphone?

* * *

Once-ler awoke early and immediately set to work harvesting Truffula leaves so he could make more Thneeds after he sold the rest from the day before, if people were willing to give his song enough time to be sang they would know just how amazing the Thneed actually was aside from just simple scarfs and belts. He didn't know if it was their limited imagination or just the simple fact that he'd decided to wear his that made them all just assume it was a simple fashion accessory.

It took him several hours to finish harvesting enough leaves so that he could sit back and knit for a few days, but when he looked at the clock on his way out of his tent after stuffing the bags alongside an empty wall he figured he had plenty of time to sell more Thneeds and swing by the ice cream shop. If not he would stop by the ice cream shop, first, and see if he couldn't make at least one new friend before he became a big shot.

When he got to the park it was nearly three in the afternoon, several hours later than when he'd got there the day before, and he quickly set up shop and stepped up the gazebo stares when a hand caught at the back of his vest and gave a tug. He looked back to see a smiling woman who was holding out five dollars with an expectant look on her face, he blinked at her before accepting the money and handing her one of the few remaining Thneeds he had on him when another person took her spot.

"If you think you're going to have to go back up there and sing for profits then you've _got_ to be new in town." He heard a voice pipe up and spotted one of the bodyguards the girl had with her yesterday already in the back of the gazebo. The man straightened from the railing and walked over, reaching a hand out, "I'm James, but everyone calls me Flop."

Once-ler smiled at him, accepting the handshake, "Once-er; yeah I'm new. I set up shop outside town a few days ago." taking his hand back he adjusted his guitar strap and looked over his shoulder at the growing crowd that stood outside the gazebo, "So that girl from yesterday is your friend, right?"

"Yeah we go way back, my mom swears we were potty trained together." He laughed and shook his head, "Doesn't seem to matter to her that I'm two years older than Chee at all." he must have made a weird face because Flop laughed, "The girl from yesterday that bought your Thneed." he explained and Once-ler nodded. "Well I'll mosey on out of here and let you do your thing."

Once-ler watched him stroll away, hands deep in his pockets with long steps that teetered occasionally and had him stumbling into someone. Shaking his head he ran his fingers over his guitar strings and grinned to the supportive and enthusiastic crowd around him that jumped and clamored with green notes clutched in their fists.

It was only four hours later when he sold the last one, but he was pleased to see that now people were using them in all sorts of ways. He watched as one person tied their Thneed onto a tree branch to use as a swing and grinned, no doubt the popularity of his very useful contraption would sky-rocket. He'd have to bring the whole family down to help him keep up with the demand and he was looking forward to seeing the love and respect in his mothers eyes.

Packing up he looked over to the ice cream shop just in time to see Chee walk out of the shop and hollered over to her, waving a long arm in the air to get her attention. She looked over at the sound of her name and gave him a little smile before walking over with her thumbs looped into the bright orange and green stripped belt that kept her large patchy jeans in place around her hips. "Well if it isn't Mr. Thneed come to peddle his wears again." she joked as she came up to him, laughter dancing in her eyes as she nodded to a couple of kids using a Thneed to toss a plane back and forth, "Looks like there's about to be a pandemic, congratulations."

"All in a days work." He replied smoothly, crossing his arms and tilting his head cockily to the side a bit, "You're not curious how I know your name?"

She shook her head, "Nah, I'm pretty well-known around these parts, the questionable part is who told you and what story they told you with it." laughing she nodded her head to a middle-aged brunette walking out of a bakery with a bright yellow Thneed wrapped around her neck, "That one, for instance, would happily tell you as many horror stories as you'd please over the things I've done to her yard." the proud way she said it made him laugh.

"Afraid I didn't learn much past your name and your potty training buddy." He hinted, looping Melvin's lead around his wrist before leaning down to add in a quiet voice, "Despite him being two years older than you... I'm wondering if you weren't potty trained very early or if he was potty trained very late."

She laughed and brought an index finger to the air, "Ah, Flop, that man's got too many issues if he's still talking about the adventures of potty training at his age; but he's a good guy." she nodded. "I think you should know, however, that my name isn't really Chee, they just call me that because their idiots."

He blinked at her before giving her an amused look and leaning in, "Well then, if you're not Chee who might you be?"

She grinned and shrugged her shoulders, "I've gotta go, Mr. Thneed." she stepped back and gave him a wave before turning and walking across the street to disappear around a corner. He watched her go before looking at Melvin with a confused shake of his head, the mule shrugged and twitched his tail impatiently.

Once-ler frowned, then dropped the lead, "Stay here, Mel." he commanded quickly before running off down the street where he'd seen her turn. She hadn't gotten far and it was easy to catch up and step in time with her, "I don't want to call you Chee if it's not your name." he informed her as though it was a good enough reason to chase her down.

She blinked up at him in surprise and shook her head, "Not even if I really, really like cheese?" she asked, looking behind her shoulder to see if he'd brought his mule, "Did you leave your stuff back there?"

"Yep." His simple answer made her laugh and he grinned, "So, Not-Chee, where are you going?" she shook her head and he sighed dramatically, "Do you live around here?" she shook her head again and his lips twitched with amusement. "Do you have a cat?" she shot him a funny look and he shrugged, "A dog? What about bird?" she shook her head, trying to fight a smile and he continued, "What's your cat's name?"

"I don't have a cat." She laughed, "Why are you asking me all that?"

"Just wanted to see if you _could_ answer, which you apparently can." He informed her, laughing as she shoved him away from her, "Now if only you knew your own name, then half my problem would be solved."

She stopped and shook her head, "Don't worry about my name, Mr. Thneed; go back to your mule. Believe me, I'm saving you some real aggravation."

"But I like to be aggravated, it's one of my hobbies." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, "Like rolling your eyes is one of your hobbies, one you're very good at, by the way. Not sure if anyone's ever told you but you've got it down to an art form."

She laughed and gave a long slow eye roll twice, "I'm going home, now do me a favor and please leave me alone." she paused, first tilting her head slightly before shaking it and widening her stance, "That may have sounded like I did that intentionally as a joke, but I didn't. I really need to get home and I'm not allowed to bring strangers to the door step."

"Then how about I wait for you to come back to the gazebo?" He asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets and giving her a grin. She looked at him oddly and he shrugged, "Or, I suppose you could leave me waiting there for the next..." he paused and thought for a moment, "two hours, do you think? Which would be terrible of you after stringing me along like this."

"I don't make plans, Mr. Thneed, and I always show up late." She said this cautiously, looking at him seriously and shaking her head, "So don't expect me to be there in two hours." he shrugged and backed away a few steps before turning to wander back down the street. "I'm not showing up in two hours!" she shouted after him, but he kept walking.

* * *

Two and a half hours later Sari was running as quickly as her feet would let her back to the park despite knowing that Mr. Thneed would no longer bet there. The stupid man was probably already at home making more of his stupid Thneed and laughing about the girl he'd tricked into running all the way back to an empty gazebo. Even if he had waited for the promised two hours there was very little doubt that he wouldn't wait for an extra thirty minutes; not that she hadn't made the effort to meet the two hour deadline.

When she came up to the corner she slowed to a walk and turned it, spotting the gazebo and crossing the street to curiously look inside, seeing nothing but a forgotten penny laying on the step. She crossed over to it and picked it up, examining it before slipping it into her pocket and going over to sit on the white bench to catch her breath before going back home. She couldn't really be annoyed that he hadn't continued to wait, how many times did she say she wasn't going to show up? She didn't know, but she knew it was more than once and usually only once would cover it with anybody, including herself for that matter.

She could be frustrated with herself, though, for having ignored her own words and slipping out of her window to try and be there. She could have just went to bed and saved herself from a night long bitch-fest that was no doubt brewing in her living room as she sat there looking up at the gazebo ceiling wishing she had a blunt. "Stupid man." she muttered.

"Now that's just mean." she blinked and her eyes darted to the gazebo entrance where Mr. Thneed stood with his arms crossed over his chest and a mock glare on his face, "I leave to go to the bathroom for two minutes and come back to find you insulting me when you're half an hour late."

"I told you I wasn't coming, so I'm not 'late'." she defended herself slowly, "What are you still doing here, I thought you'd be long gone by now."

He shrugged and leaned against the railing, "No, you said you wouldn't be here in two hours. I took that to mean you might be here in three so I decided to stick around." he explained and she nodded her head, it was a good enough answer. "Why are you calling me stupid if you didn't expect me to be here."

"I didn't call you stupid." she denied and he arched an eyebrow, "I called you a stupid man."

"Oh, well if it was only _that_ then I guess I don't have any room to complain." She laughed and he came over and sat beside her, stretching out long gray striped pant legs. "So how are you using your Thneed? I see that you're no longer wearing it for a scarf."

Sari froze for a moment and considered which answer to give before shrugging and giving him a quick smile, "As a gift for my mom, she loves it." he seemed to like the answer and she congratulated herself on managing to scrape it up, "I'll have to buy myself one when I get paid in a couple of weeks, I came home today and she was using hers as a chair."

"They make excellent chairs." He informed her and she nodded, studying his cheerful looking face and feeling like a bitch for giving into her own greed and befriending him for his guitar. "Something wrong?"

Yeah, she was far to sober and her conscience was far to loud. "Nah, I'm okay." He fidgeted a bit from her staring and she grinned, "Sorry, I tend to like looking at people." he nodded and stuffed his thumbs into his front pockets and looking around like he expected a topic of conversation to just fall out of the sky for him. Having pity on him and soothing her own prickling guilt she nodded at his Thneed, "So how does one come up with making something with over a thousand uses, anyway? I can hardly come up with finding a single use for myself half the time."

He didn't seem to want to answer her question, however, and instead grinned at her, "I like your shoes, it's the only stars I've seen since the sun set in this town." she looked down and grinned at her shoes, nodding, "Doesn't really match anything you're wearing, though."

"Pink and yellow go with everything." She stated gibly, sticking a foot out to examine her own shoe, "Aaron, one of my friends, says that if you get far enough away from town you can see the real ones in the sky, but I'd rather sit on my butt and look at my shoes." he laughed at that and she gave a shrug, "I'm not going to walk that far for stars unless there's a huge bag of-" she cut herself off, nearly saying weed, "money waiting for me."

Yeah, money worked. She'd walk that far for money, too, who wouldn't? "I've got a dollar." He offered, pulling it out of his pocket and waving it in front of her face. She pushed it away with a grin and he shrugged his lanky shoulders, "Guess you'll be needing a higher bribe, then."

"Without a doubt." She laughed, standing back up from the bench and giving him a nod, "Nice talking to you, Thneed-Man, but it's time for me to wander off and disappear into the night." he gave her an amused nod and she walked out of the gazebo, not entirely sure why she'd bothered showing up aside from the guitar she no longer wanted to take advantage of him for anymore.

"Hey, what's your name?" He suddenly shouted after her, but she lifted a hand and gave him a wave as an answer; his little Thneed invention was going to be a smashing success and he'd soon forget about her anyway.

* * *

Authors Note: So everyone say hi to Sari! She's not exactly what many people would use for a main character, but I'm fond of her myself and that's what really matters. What I love about her is that there's just so many different ways I can go with her; fresh and exciting possibilities! Yay!


	2. Chapter 2

The Good Girl

Authors Note: Feedback is nice... I can't improve without it, after all, so telling me what you think is kind of important to me since I'm writing these to improve my style. If you don't like it then tell me why, you don't even have to get detailed with it. "To many mistakes", "Don't like the plot", "Can't stand the OC", or whatever. I'd rather have something than nothing because right now I'm stumbling around blindly and that's just kind of wasting my time.

* * *

Two weeks later and Once-ler hadn't forgotten about the mystery girl with the light brown hair that had been kind enough to start a trend that was raking him in the dough; however he was having less and less time to do anything other than knit. He could hear his family outside, busily carting the Truffula tufts to and fro to be processed and turned into yarn that was slowly being piled up around his small tent. It wouldn't be too much longer that he just flat-out wouldn't be able to keep up with the growing demand that peaked higher and higher each passing day, "I need more help."

It was both an amusing and inspiring realization, one that had a large smile spreading across his cheeks a he shook his head disbelievingly. He had gone from a nobody to a somebody in what seemed like a single night and the Thneed's popularity was quickly turning him into a household name. He looked at his beat up old guitar and grinned at it, sitting back on his bed and crossing his legs before him as he continued to knit, "I think I finally did it." he told the guitar. "I'm changing the world just like you said I would and mom's never been proud."

The polished guitar sat silently on it's stand beside the wall and he jiggled his foot, allowing himself a moment to gloat silently, "Soon we won't have another worry, I'll take good care of them all, just like you told me to." setting the knitting aside he stood up and walked over to the inconspicuous instrument to kneel down before it, running a gentle hand up it's brand new strings. "I'm sure you're very proud of me, and once I have enough money I can get you completely restored and set you up in a nice case over a mantle or something so you can keep watching over us."

His door opened and he looked over his shoulder to see his mother walk into the tent with brisk businesslike steps and a happy little smile. He moved away from the guitar and his mother frowned, "You're not talking to that thing again, are you?"

He didn't answer and walked back to his bed, sitting on the mattress and reclaiming the needles as she walked over to the black and white guitar, "Why your father gave you such a thing..." she shook her head, but even as the snidely spoken words left her mouth her fingers slid over the long neck reverently. She suddenly stopped and turned away from it and crossing her arms, "It's highly unhealthy for a man your age to be sitting inside knitting and talking to inanimate objects for days on end."

He looked up at her, creasing his forehead in confusion before humming and nodding his head, "You still want me to build that factory." he said and she nodded. Shrugging his shoulders he crossed his legs under him and looked around his tent, there wasn't hardly enough space for him between the stacks of Truffula yarn and Thneeds stacked over every available surface. It hardly looked anything like a business and he hadn't been able to sit at his table for days, "I'm not sure if there's enough money to build a whole factory though, mom."

"Trust me, you've got enough to set up at least a small one and you'll quickly earn back what you spent when you have more hands helping you knit." Her logic was sound enough and he nodded again, heaving a sigh and leaning back against his headboard, "Your father would not want you this swamped even if it does mean you're a success, you need to have more time for your family and your family needs to have more time for you, too. None of us are able to keep up."

He nodded and looked down at the twin needles in his fingers before setting them aside and standing up, "You're right, I'll draw up some plans real quick-"

"You should also reconsider how you're harvesting the tufts, not that I don't love the forest," he nearly laughed at that, remembering her first reaction to seeing the tall thin trees, deep emerald-green grass, and fluffy little forest animals. "but we are losing valuable time carrying them picking and carrying them back to be spun."

"We can't cut the trees." He said that firmly with a shake of his head and squared his shoulders to show that he meant it, "I made a promise to the Lorax that I wouldn't cut down another tree and I never break my word."

"Well your promise is hurting your family." His mother stated, planting her hands on her hips to stare him down, "What about your poor brothers, have you seen them?" he darted a quick look outside his kitchen window to see them running back and forth between the trees and large carts where they collected the tufts. "Your poor aunt hasn't been able to leave her bed for days and Ubb..." she paused and frowned, "Well, Ubb is Ubb; but even my back is killing me. Oncie, if you're really intent on not cutting down the trees then just let your brothers do it, then _you_ aren't cutting them down at all, are you?"

He shifted uncomfortably on his feet and frowned at the floor below them before chewing on his lip and giving a reluctant nod, "There now, you'll see that everything will be fine! That stuffy old Lorax is just being greedy is all, there's plenty of trees!"

Sari punched in her employee number on the register and signed out, untieing the orange string belt from around her waist and removing it from her aching shoulders. It was rare for her to have to work any more than six hours a day, however it seemed that their new higher didn't feel like showing up for work that day which left her with no one to relieve her for yet another six hours.

"Think they'll come back?" her co-worker asked, frowning darkly as she scooped up a vanilla dish for a waiting customer.

She shrugged, "I don't' know, but if she's smart she won't." the other girl laughed and Sari frowned, she wasn't playing. "Really, if I get my hands around her neck it'll take the jaws of life to get me to let go." huffing she reached for her small page-boy hat and jammed it on her head, "Even that might not be enough... Twelve fucking hours... Jesus."

"You'd better watch your language, Sari."

Sari gave a careless nod before waving and leaving the store with her hands deep within her pockets, breathing deeply and letting out a tired sigh; it was nearly seven and the only places she had to go to was either home or the gazebo. She looked over at the small round shelter and turned for home before she could think twice of it, she had another two weeks of avoiding her favorite place to make sure she didn't accidentally run into anybody who might take the opportunity to try to talk to her again.

Her feet dragged and her shoulders hunched slightly, shivering at the unusually chilly air and wishing she'd thought to bring her jacket. Recently the days had grown longer, though, and she hadn't known she was walking into an ice cream parlor for twelve consecutive hours. Her pocket started ringing and she fished out her phone and looked at the ID before answering, "Hi mom... Yeah, I'm on my way back-... Really? Can't you get dad... Ah, is he? He won't wake up?" she looked back over her shoulder and frowned.

"Well that's kind of a long way for me to walk, don't you think?" Her mother's voice sharpened and she heaved a sigh, "No, mom, I can do it; I don't want you walking that far, either... Yes... Yes, I'm turning around now." she turned and started heading for the city gates, frowning in annoyance. She hadn't been outside of the city walls since she was in middle school when they had taken them for a 'friendship walk' around the forest outside. "Yes, only one, right?... Yes, I have the money, but are you sure he doesn't sell them at the gazebo anymore?"

Her mother chided her for a moment before suddenly claiming to have another call and hanging up, leaving Sari to look over at her gazebo and sigh. She could have gone to her spot and not even worried about seeing Thneed-Man or not, how nice to find that out after being told to go buy a new Thneed so her mother could match it to her new red shoes... She frowned and went through her contacts, calling up Flop who answered eventually with a sleepy hello.

"Come with me to buy a Thneed." She ordered, then paused and widened her eyes, "No, I'm not going to buy one for you, it's for my mom." he chuckled sleepily and hung up, leaving her to glare at the useless phone in her hand. She could try calling Aaron, but he was probably half stoned out of his mind and wouldn't want to even move to answer the ring let alone walk all the way to the forest with her. She was going alone and she would have no one to send to the door for her.

Stuffing the phone back into her pocket she gritted her teeth and looked at the gate before heaving a sigh and walking through it. Why couldn't he just buy a shop in town? Why did it either have to be the gazebo or the forest? Why the hell was he running his business in a _tent_ of all things? "Stupid man." she muttered to herself, shaking her head and shivering slightly.

Pulling out a small rolled joint from the bag hanging over her hip she gave a quick look around and stuck it between her lips... If she was walking in the cold to fetch a Thneed from a man she'd been useless working at avoiding for the last two weeks then she would do so as high as she could get. Thankfully she wouldn't have to explain why she'd been avoiding him since he didn't know it, and as she sucked in the first harsh hit she held it for a moment longer than she usually would.

She blinked and frowned down at the joint, quickly blowing the smoke out of her lungs and opening it to find odd pink hairs in it, "What the fuck?" she asked, shaking her head as she teetered slightly. She felt more tingly and light than she'd ever felt in a normal high after smoking an entire joint to herself; feeling like she did after only one was something that hadn't happened since she'd dropped out of high school.

She ripped her phone from her pocket and called Aaron, waiting until he finally answered his phone, "What the fuck did you do to my pot?" she snapped, "There's weird shit all up in it, what is it?" she frowned when he answered and shook her head, "You mixed Thneed fibers in it? Why?" he answered and she slowly nodded, re-rolling the joint and licking it closed, "Well you could have at least warned me, I held it in for ten seconds... You're such a pothead, just because it smells good enough to eat doesn't mean it's safe enough to smoke."

"I don't care if it makes your weed smell good!" she shook her head and pocketed the rest of the joint, "No, I'm keeping it, haven't felt this good in ages, but don't do this again... Because you don't know the effects, you stoner monkey!" hanging up the phone she laughed and shook her head. Only one of her friends would come up with the foolish idea to smoke a Thneed, though she had seen a few people actually putting it on their food as well.

Her body tingled nearly half way to the forest before she had to light up again, taking two deep puffs and putting it back out. The joint wasn't even a third of the way gone and she'd been walking for nearly two hours; maybe Aaron was onto something after all... She didn't seem to have any negative effects, after all, and the near two hour high it helped give was a full on blast. Her legs didn't hurt, her head was pleasantly foggy, and everything was twice as funny as usual; but she didn't feel hungry at all and the more it took effect the more energy she felt she had.

Maybe she'd buy herself a Thneed, too.

* * *

He was just finishing buttoning up his pajamas when his door knocked and he frowned at it, how did they figure it was alright to come whenever they wanted to buy a Thneed? Didn't they at least consider that he might have to wake up early in the morning so he could knit the darn things? He walked over and opened the door to glare at whoever it was that decided that ten in the evening was a good time to disturb anyone and blinked in surprise.

"Hi, Thneed-Man, is it to late to buy a couple more?" Not-Chee girl asked curiously, rocking from her heels to her toes in nothing but a bright yellow tank top and baggy blue jeans. Her eyes were red and glassy and he wondered if she'd been crying, but the huge smile on her face seemed to state otherwise and he wondered if this was a reoccurring thing for her. She laughed and a hand clamped over her mouth as she shook her head and bent over, "Oh, wow, I love those!"

At first he had no idea what she found so funny about what, then a long slender finger pointed to his pajamas and he realized that the yellow bunnies was probably not something she was used to seeing on a man. He cleared his throat and jerked his chin up defiantly at the near hysterically laughing girl, crossing his arms over his chest and widening his stance, "You sure it's okay to laugh at the man who you're trying to buy Thneeds from?"

"Sure I'm sure." She stated, laughing again before sucking in a quick breath of air, "I did say I liked them, didn't I? More men should wear bunnies, they're cute." The indirect compliment she'd unintentionally handed to him soothed his pride and he gave her an amused look that she had apparently found even funnier than his pajamas, "You look like you're waiting to be tucked into bed, that's just too adorable."

He rolled his eyes and stepped aside, "Want to come in so you can laugh at me without me having to hold he door open and letting the bugs in?" she nodded and walked inside as she tried to control her laughter and he shut the door and turned to look at her still grinning face. Dark green eyes continued to laugh, though, but he chose to ignore it and nodded towards on of the stacks of Thneeds, "For laughing at me you have to get your own."

"Fine, I will." she walked over to one of the stacks and shot him a grin, "Wouldn't it be funny if I knocked these over like some over grown monster attacking town?" she gave a funny little roar and flapped her arms, "Run fools, the mighty Cheeba has come to crush your fluffy buildings!"

He tried coughing over his laugh, but when she accidentally tripped over herself as she goofed off he chuckled and bent down to pull a pink Thneed from the top of her head, "Congratulations, Mighty Cheeba, you've created a mess of Thneedville."

"That's how we Mighty Cheeba's roll." She smoothed her hand over the air and grinned before picking herself and the knocked over Thneeds from the grounds, placing them in a teetering stack that only fell over again and frowned at it. "Your Thneeds are working against me." he watched with interest as she made smaller piles all over his floor before picking up two Thneeds and punching a fist into the air victoriously, "It's my win, Thneedville, your fuzzy buildings are _mine_!"

She sniffed at the Thneeds and made a happy noise in the back of her throat, "I can't even place what it smells like, but it _must_ taste wonderful, don't you think?" she asked him seriously and he found himself nodding in agreement before realizing her thought had come out of nowhere and was heading the same direction.

She pressed money at him and he looked down, shaking his head, "They're only three ninety-eight." he told her, trying to hand her back the twenty.

She shook her head, held up a finger, and padded his shoulder, "For bothering you this late at night and trashing your tent, Thneed-Man." she tossed a bright yellow Thneed around her shoulders before winking at him and leaving his tent so suddenly that he blinked at the closed door and sat on his mattress before realizing he'd been forced to take an extra twelve dollars.

Shaking his head he put the twenty on his night stand, "There's something up with that girl." a voice said behind him, making him spin around and squeal at the Lorax laying in his bed. He was glaring at him darkly, "I'd be worried about her if it wasn't for the idiots hacking away at my forest despite certain promises that were given."

He shook his head, "Hey, I said that _I_ wouldn't cut down your trees and _I_ haven't, I never said that my family wouldn't so you can't sit there and say that I broke _any_ of my promises." the Lorax looked at him like he couldn't have said anything more stupid if he'd tried. He cleared his throat and continued, pointing at the door firmly, "And just what is wrong with being happy and energetic? So what if she made a bit of a mess-"

"That girl _was_ a mess and you gave _permission_ to cut down my trees to your idiot family who've been running through all evening hacking through so many trees that I'm hard-pressed to even know the number!" The Lorax snapped, standing on the mattress so he could look him in the eyes squarely, "You broke your promise!"

"I didn't!" Once-ler snapped, standing from the bed so he could glare down at the angry guardian before jabbing a finger at the door, but the Lorax had already hopped down and walked over to it before he could kick him out. The tall man stormed over and held it open for him, "If you weren't so greedy over your trees this wouldn't even be an issue."

The Lorax spun around, but Once-ler quickly slammed the door in it's face before anything else could be said, locking it for good measure before walking over and laying on his mattress. Gone was the amusement of watching the girl nearly destroy his tent with her childish antics of monster play and he looked over at his guitar, "He's over reacting." he stated smoothly with a shake of his head.

Laying down he turned off his light and, after what seemed like hours and might very well had been as well, went to sleep; and when he woke up he felt sluggish and sick from fitful dreams of Not-Chee going on a playful rampage through the Truffula's, kicking into the trees with roars of laughter and shrieks of delight... It wasn't going to be a good day.

* * *

Sari woke up feeling tired, hung-over, and depressed far worse than she was used to and she heaved a heavy sigh and got out of bed, stumbling over to her closet to pull out a random set of clothes when she spotted the unfinished joint laying innocently on top her night stand and groaned again. If she remembered right she had not only laughed at the Thneed-Man, but had laughed at him in his own house as she destroyed his nice and neat stacks of Thneeds while pretending she was a monster attacking town.

Sighing she tossed her clothes onto the bed and took off her night-clothes, throwing them into her hamper and walking into her bathroom for a quick shower. The hot water helped sooth the dull ache of her shoulders but did nothing to help the growing pain in her head, so when she got out she looked suspiciously at the roach and picked it up.

A small tiny puff probably wouldn't do her any damage so long as she immediately blew it back out and didn't try holding it in. If worse came to worse she could always just lock herself in her room and let herself tweak as much as she pleased anyhow, and if that didn't work she could always harass Flop. Nodding her head decidedly she unrolled the large roach and broke out her pipe for a small hit before snuffing it and stashing it under her mattress.

It took a moment for the effects to come, but when they did the buzzing in her skull wasn't nearly as loud and she could only feel the slightest of tingling running through her legs and arms. "Sari, are you awake yet?" she heard her mother call from down the stairs and opened her door, "I need the trash taken out, your worthless bastard father won't get off the couch to do it!"

Sighing she walked down the stairs and looked to see that her father was busy glaring at the television and arched an questioning eyebrow at him before spotting the bottle of tequila and flinching. He was usually a happy guy with an easy-going personality; sure, he had a bit of a problem when it came to alcohol, but when he broke out the tequila it was like a complete personality reversal. He turned his head and glared at her, "What?"

She nodded her head to the kitchen, "You're going to upset her if you keep that up." she stated evenly, shoving a hand through her wet hair as his narrowed eyes slitted further into a disgusted look and she frowned, "I thought you weren't going to drink that shit anymore."

"It was a gift." He snapped, taking the bottle and lifting it to his lips, no longer even bothering to use the dirty shot glass on the floor between his feet.

She snorted derisively and turned to the kitchen to see her mom twitching about and felt her headache slam back behind her eyes with vengeance, "You didn't smoke your patch, did you?" her mother glared at her as well and she mentally cursed. When one of them was messed up it was a bad day, but when you broke out the patch and the tequila things usually turned dangerous. She tugged the trash bag out of the can and tied it before carrying it outside and tossing it into the garbage.

"Sari, you busy today?" She looked up and watched her neighbor, an old woman who'd suffered a stroke two years back, hobble over with a hopeful smile. "I was wondering if you wouldn't clean my gutters out? I hate to ask but recently every time it rains it leaks over the sides-"

"Don't worry about it, Miss. Judy, I'm happy to do it for you." Sari interrupted quickly, not wanting the woman to explain further and feel worse for it. "You know I don't mind doing these things for you, just make sure you add those extra sugar cookies in my present on my birthday." the woman smiled thankfully and Sari grinned back, "Just give me a minute to eat some toast and I'll be right over."

She didn't have to walk back inside to hear glass shattering and stiffened, "Is everything alright, dear?" she heard Miss. Judy ask

She quickly turned with an eye roll, "Sounds like she broke a glass." laughing she shook her head, "Give me another moment so I can help her clean it up." slipping inside and shutting the door as fast as she could she looked at the war that went from the kitchen counter to the living room couch, "So what'd I miss?"

"He won't do anything, he just sits there every day like the bastard that he is! What kind of man makes his daughter take the trash out all the time while he sits around getting drunk on the couch." Her mother hissed, picking up tall glass that still had suds from the dishwater on it to heave at the man holding a throw pillow. He batted the glass away and Sari flinched as it broke against the floor, joining the remains of the first missile. "You're worthless!"

Her father growled and stormed over and Sari, horrified, jumped between him and her mother, "Dad, no, go sit down!" she stated as the woman cowered behind her. He lifted a hand to slap her and she braced herself for the sharp impact, stars bursting behind her eyes and head jerking so sharply she felt her neck twinge. She stumbled, but otherwise didn't fall and straightened herself up in time to prevent the same thing from happening to her sobbing mother, "Knock it off! I'll call the cops, I swear I will!" she snapped.

"Why don't you call your bad ass _friends_ to come beat me up again?" He snarled, pushing her so hard that she tripped over her mother and landed on the back of her head on the kitchen linoleum and groaned. "How did I get saddled with a bitch wife and a slut daughter?"

"Don't you call us names you bastard!" Her mother screamed, picking up the broom to hit him with, "How dare you, all you do is sit around all day getting drunk, you're _ruining_ our lives!" he yelled something at her and jerked the broom out of her hand before swinging it down. Sari kicked her mothers ankles and rolled so the older woman would fall on her before wrapping her body around her t shield her the best she could.

"Stop it!"

The broom snapped in half across her back, she knew because she felt it bend before breaking sharply, pinching her skin painfully before splintering against the floor and cringed as pain seared across her back and she cried out from the attack on her nerves.

Her agonized shout seemed to shock her parents out of their rage and she picked herself off the floor, staggering to the counter to lean against it. "Go to bed and sleep this off." she whispered, rubbing the back of her head. Her parents looked at her and she glared at both of them, "Now, please." the nodded and helped each other through the war zone and up the stairs.

Sari stumbled over to the dining table and sat heavily on the chair, taking slow deep breaths to calm her racing heart as she let the stars fade from her vision. When her father sobered up she would find out who had given him the tequila and she would drag their ass to hell and lock them in their own misery. For now she needed to clear her head so she could clear out her neighbors gutters.

* * *

Once-ler looked down at his watch from his spot on the gazebo stairs as he waited for The Mighty Cheeba to make an appearance, which he was sure she would. She worked at the ice cream shop, after all, so even if she didn't he could catch up with her the next day... So why was it so important for him to see her as soon as he could? "Stupid Lorax." he mumbled to himself before blinking and remembering just days ago walking up to see the girl just a bit further up on the bench muttering basically the same thing about him.

He was tired and could feel himself getting cranky. Even Melvin was looking at him somewhat worriedly, but what could he do about it? Sleep?

Sleep sounded really good at that moment, actually, but he fought off his droopy eyes and the large yawn that threatened to escape. He needed another cup of coffee, or even a tall glass of iced tea would ave been nice, "Hey, Thneed-Man, I'm glad you're here!" he looked up and seen the girl walk up to him and breathed thankfully, he'd give her back the money and go home for a nap. "I really wanted to apologize for last night, I really didn't mean to trash your place or anything... It was just too much for me to resist at the time."

She was slouched oddly in front of him with hands deep in her pockets and a tired grin on her face that spoke of a sleepless night with large pink lenses covering her eyes. Somehow, despite the large smile she was giving him, she looked like she was in pain, "I'm also sorry I went out there so late, I had a long day yesterday since a coworker of mine didn't show up to take over and I had to pull a double shift..." she gave two deep nods and bit her lip awkwardly, "Really, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

He blinked at her, "Are you alright?" he asked curiously and she froze like he'd threatened her, which was an odd reaction to say the least, "Did you sleep weirdly or something?" he elaborated cautiously and she relaxed a bit and gave a noncommittal shrug before taking a step back and opening her mouth to give him a departing sentence and he vaulted to his feet, "Want to get some coffee with me?"

She stumbled back a bit, her head jerking back from his sudden movement before blinking at him, "Sorry-"

He held up a hand, "Let me rephrase that." he stated smoothly, giving her a grin and holding his arms behind his back before bending to her eye level, "Please have coffee with me."

She looked confused for a moment before he spotted a slight tug against the corner of her lip, "While I like how you did that I still don't think I should." she denied.

He frowned, then got down on a knee, "Will you do me the honor of having a cup of coffee with me?" she stared at him openly for several long seconds before bursting out laughing only to end on a groan as she rubbed her temples, "Should I have taken our hand? I should have, huh?"

She laughed more and pushed his hand away when he tried to take hers, "Stop, I'm not feeling well today." she told him, still grinning despite her words. "I feel like I bashed my head on something and snapped a broom over my back, you making me laugh doesn't help."

He flinched and stood up, grinning apologetically, "Well then at least take this back." he pulled the twenty from his pocket, but she refused to touch it even when he tried to shove it in her pocket.

"That's for damages to Thneedville." She told him, her face not leaking a bit of the amusement shinning in her green eyes and he chuckled, "I've got to go now-"

"You should promise to have coffee with me tomorrow if you're planning on leaving me alone after keeping me up late and trashing my Thneeds." He cut her off, smirking when she scrunched her nose at him, "Before you ask, yes, I'm playing the guilt card."

She blinked at him before smirking, "Sorry, but I don't have coffee with strange men I don't know and I never make plans."

He nodded, "Well, I'll see you here tomorrow at ten, then."

She shook her head and turned around, waving at him from over her shoulder, "Bye-bye, Thneed-Man." his smile dimmed and he had the sinking feeling that he'd be waiting far longer than a mere thirty minutes tomorrow when she turned, "Bring your guitar!"

* * *

Sari felt stupid as she stood outside Aaron's apartment as she waited for either him or his girlfriend to answer the door so she could go inside. She wanted to go to Flops, but he would recognize the pain she was in without having to even look directly at her and she didn't want him to go to jail again because of something he had no part of. Looking around she noticed a child walking up and down the hall, looking as sad and lonely as she felt, "What are you doing, kid?" she shouted at him.

He looked at her and gave a great sniff and she felt her spirits sinking, "Mommy won't come!" he screamed and she sighed, walking over and stopping a short distance away.

"Listen kid, your Mommy will come." she told him confidently, "You just have to knock hard enough, I can see why you're having trouble, though, so why don't you tell me which apartment you live in and I'll give it a try?" he tearfully pointed two doors down and she walked over and started banging on the door using her 'cop knock' she'd learned from Day-day years ago. She heard the sound of shuffling before the door opened and the kid ran inside.

Mission accomplished, she turned and headed back for Aaron's door and ignored the confused woman with the wrinkled imprints from sleeping on the rug on her face. She could lecture her all she wanted and get no where for it aside from, perhaps, a fight that she had no hope in hell of even being a challenge in. "Aaron, open up, your friend needs a pain reliever!"

She was just starting to get annoyed when the door jerked open suddenly and she seen the red glasses eyes of Megan, Aaron's girlfriend. "Hey Megs, mind letting me in?" the other woman nodded and stepped aside enough to let Sari squeeze through before shutting and locking the door behind her. "Why are you acting like such a tweaker?"

"Because I'm tweaking. Is there a spider in my hair?" Megan shoved her thick black hair in the brunettes face, "There is, isn't there? Aaron says there isn't but I know there is, can you check?"

Sari looked through the woman's hair carefully, making sure to move it about before shaking her head, "I don't see any spiders, Megs, why don't you brush your hair?" she nodded and ran off into the bathroom to do as Sari suggested and left her to escort herself to the living room where she found Aaron measuring baggies on his coffee table. "You let her smoke too much of that stuff."

"I didn't know she'd gotten into it until five minutes ago." He looked up and frowned, "You okay? I didn't mean to give you the wrong joint last night, but it sounded like you enjoyed it." she shrugged with a tired nod and gingerly sank into one of his chairs. "Kailie let her kid in yet?"

"I banged on her door and woke her up. You'll have to keep an eye open in case he gets out again, though. Not sure how I feel about leaving a five-year-old in that situation." she scrunched her nose.

"Brent will be back home in twenty minutes, if he gets out again I'll call him over." Aaron comforted as Megan came back into the room. "So you're needing something for a headache?"

"An everything ache, gimmie one of those TJ's." he frowned at her and she winked, "Truffula Joints." she explained.

He laughed, reaching under the couch and picking out a pretty blue joint, handing it to her. "That's five bucks for you, but if anyone else wants one it's ten. Only my friends get the discounts." he smiled at her and she returned it, she could always count on Aaron to be a sweetie and it was always refreshing to know that he had no secret agenda when it came down to it. "I talked to Day-day yesterday, he was off his rocker on this stuff so I'm not giving him anymore; he's pretty upset about it. Make sure you don't end up like him, I don't want two bald friends; people might think we're starting a cult or something."

"Apparently I just act like one of those old black and white horror movie monsters." She laughed, "When I went to buy a Thneed I ran around his tent trying to knock over Thneed buildings and the such."

"That's the kind of tweaker I love to be around." Aaron joked, handing her a plain joint, "That's a freebie for making my day." she smirked and sparked it up before passing it to Megan. "So what are your plans today? You've got the next two days off, right?"

"Three, actually, they're making it up to me over the twelve-hour shift"

"Dude, is your back bleeding?" Megan asked, twitching a little and Sari arched a tired eyebrow, "Seriously, no, I think it's bleeding. Is it bleeding? Move your Thneed so I can see it better."

"My back isn't bleeding."

"No, you're back's bleeding." Aaron confirmed, "Or it was; you fall down the stairs or something?" She sighed and gave a tired shrug before nodding and he shook his head, "It's 'cuz you keep running down them, you're gonna break your neck one day."

She scrunched her nose, an image of a broom snapping her neck in half popping into her head and shuddered; it was actually possible if she wasn't careful. As it was it had taken her an extra hour to clean out her neighbor's gutter as she'd promised, ignoring the woman's worried face and questioning eyes the best she could when she was served tea and cookies as thanks. "Yeah, you're probably right, I'll watch what I'm doing."

Megan came over and peeked under the shirt, "Wow, you're all bruised and stuff, no wonder you came over so early." Sari tried to pull her shirt down but Megan kept it firmly in her fist and turned around, "Come check this out, Aaron, it's huge!"

He stared at Sari and she felt her heart sink, "Really?"

"Just don't say anything." She muttered, reaching over to take the joint he passed to her and taking a deep hit, "I'm having a tough enough time already, I'd rather have you guys near where I can chill with you when I fall."

He shook his head, "Just watch yourself a bit better or I'm breaking your stairs banister." the words were bland but the hot look in his eyes wasn't and she nodded her head, passing the joint to Megan who continued to study the bruise until Sari managed to pull the shirt back down over her back and send her a glare.

"Why's it so _big_?"

"You're tweaking, Megs, come sit." Aaron told her, patting the spot beside him on the couch but Megan shook her head and went to the bathroom, coming out with bandages. "Or that. Lift your shirt again, Cheeba."

* * *

Once-ler cheerfully stepped off his cart and whistled as he unhooked Melvin from the wooden lead, "There you go, thanks pal!" he said, patting the mule's rump casually before turning around and nearly tripping over an angry-looking Lorax. He sighed, "Now what, Mustache?"

"Stop cutting down my trees!" He snapped and Once-ler rolled his eyes before walking around the furious guardian and entering his tent, "You're not even using the wood!"

"I don't need the wood, do I?" He asked inanely before the Lorax ran in front of him and held out a hand to make him stop and talk to him. Once-ler frowned and shoved him aside with his foot, "I'm not doing anything wrong, what's the big deal? So a few trees are getting cut down, you've got thousands more!" he walked over to his guitar and picked up the smooth neck, looping the strap over his shoulder and plucking a few strings.

The Lorax scoffed, "You're chopping dozens of my trees down every day and your factory isn't even built-"

"It's almost built." He smirked at the orange critter and arched a smug eyebrow, "You were wrong about my Thneed, Lorax, and you're wrong about the forest, too." leaning back a bit he played a rift, "So I'm chopping a few trees, what are you going to do?" he loved the blues, such an under-appreciated music genre.

"I can tell you what I'm not going to do. I'm not going to sit here and listen to you sing about how I can't do anything." Once-ler laughed at that and the Lorax shook his head, "You're turning out to be a real disappointment, Beanpole." he stormed out of the house without shutting the door and Once-ler rolled his eyes, walking over to his bed and sitting on the edge.

Pipsqueak bounded in and looked around before spotting him and sitting at his feet, "And what do you want? Do you want a marshmallow?" he asked the cute little bar-ba-loot who mawed and did a little dance, "You do, don't you!? Pipper's wants a mallow!" it mawed again and he laughed, standing up and retrieving a bag from the counter to bring back to the bed with him. Pipsqueak seemed to not understand the meaning of 'underfoot' and he had to walk slowly to make up for it, but once he handed down the fluffy white treat he was rewarded with the absolute cuteness of him eating it. "You still like me, don't ya Pip?"

The bar-ba-loot pawed at his pant leg and he chuckled, handing over another marshmallow that was happily consumed before pulling one out and stuffing it into his own mouth, "Here you go you little runt," he tossed the rest of the bag down to Pipsqueak's joy and laughed, "enjoy, little buddy." leaning back on his bed he rubbed his palms against the smooth surface of his dad's guitar and sighed.

"You've gotta help me get that girl's name." He told the guitar fondly, "Because I can't keep calling her The Mighty Cheeba or she'll get a big head and calling her Not-Chee... Sounds kind of Naughty." Laughing at the word play he picked lazily at the strings making the guitar sound like it laughed. "I knew you'd like that one."

* * *

Authors Note: Ah, I hate my spell check... It says I'm making up words that I'm not and is trying to auto-correct the words I'm making up! Grr and junk. However when I turn around and use FF's spell check... Ahh, if only I had one that worked, then all my problems would be solved!

Sometimes people just have to make up words, spell check, so stop screwing with me!


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